Retail chains
Talk about the stock that ages.
The merchandising system knows exactly where every aging pair is. Nobody is talking about it. Turn a report nobody opens into a short daily conversation that people finish.
What changed.
From the story in our book.
9%
Inventory older than 180 days
from 24%
2 days
Store-to-store transfer time
from 14 days
46%
Aging stock sold at full price or light markdown
from 21%
Illustrative, from our book The Business of Being Answered.
Where it leaks.
Nobody owns the decision
Transfer, mark down, bundle or return: each option belongs to a different team. In the gap, the shoes sit.
Stores cannot see each other
The best seller in Dubai is the worst seller in Muscat. A transfer takes two weeks of emails.
Customers who wanted it are never told
"Do you have this in a 38?" No. The size sits thirty minutes away, unsold.
How the conversation changes.
Invisible to the customer. Total behind the counter.
Every aging line gets an owner
At 90 days, a message to the store manager with three options and a deadline.
Stores offer and claim directly
Request, approval and logistics in one thread: two days, not two weeks.
Escalation happens by itself
At 150 days to the area manager with its history; at 180 to the buyer.
Customers become the outlet
Every "not in your size" is a wish, matched to aging stock.
The pilot.
Thirty days, agreed in writing on day one, reviewed every week.
Scope
One region, every line over 90 days
One measure
Aging provision released
Fee
Fixed, and credited against the first year.
Chapter 7 · Retail chains
“Data without a conversation is a decoration.”